No clue what to charge..

[Chrish12]

I'm thinking ahead really but it's been bouncing around for a few days and I'm not getting anywhere with it.

Basically I'm looking to create a comparison/review site for a service that seems relatively untouched. After its built up some traffic I want to be able to offer companies the opportunity to appear at the top of the list, covered on social media etc for a fee..

The problem is I have no idea what would be considered an acceptable rate. I don't want to say a price that they will just laugh at or, at the same time, go the other way and be way too cheap.

Any ideas on where I can start? At present the services are generally promoted via targeted social media adds and influencers.

I imagine it will have to be based on a traffic to the site or click through rate or could I just see if they make an offer?

 

[SEODEV#338055]

Would you be providing positive reviews for bad companies who are willing to pay you for a positive review?

 

[Phil Sproson Photography]

I'm guessing you don't want to reveal, but if there is nobody exploiting this already for comparisons, is it because there isn't too much differentiation between companies, similar prices, services/products, and as such there isn't too much to compare.?

Also, if I am getting the wrong end of the stick here, lots of comparison sites use affiliate networks and pay you on results, are these companies engaged with schemes such as that?

Also, if these products are being pushed via influencers (depending on who they are), then from some knowledge of Tik Tok and YouTube influencers, they won't need any other services as they'll be selling all they need.

 

[Chrish12]

Would you be providing positive reviews for bad companies who are willing to pay you for a positive review?

No i wouldn't be happy to do that.

 

[Chrish12]

I'm guessing you don't want to reveal, but if there is nobody exploiting this already for comparisons, is it because there isn't too much differentiation between companies, similar prices, services/products, and as such there isn't too much to compare.?

Also, if I am getting the wrong end of the stick here, lots of comparison sites use affiliate networks and pay you on results, are these companies engaged with schemes such as that?

Also, if these products are being pushed via influencers (depending on who they are), then from some knowledge of Tik Tok and YouTube influencers, they won't need any other services as they'll be selling all they need.

I feel there is plenty of scope to compare.. I have about 150 companies from my research. Some of these are on affiliate schemes like you mention but lots are not at this point. I will try and negotiate some sort of affiliate deal to have the company listed, then I was wondering if I should offer this additional 'prime location' or just offer companies the opportunity to be featured for a fee..

Yes it's possible that the sites that already heavily market will not be interested, but are still worth me including for the affiliate referrals.

So to make it clearer (for myself as well )

I'm wondering if I should offer the sites the opportunity to be featured for a fee or agree a commission rate.

Then on top of this offer the opportunity to be the 'featured' company who will get top of the list for a fee.

I imagine companies will prefer to pay per result rather than a flat fee, at least until I can get some traffic/ results to the site. I know what the average rate is payed per purchase but not if I considered a flat fee approach if that makes sense.

 

[Phil Sproson Photography]

Similar but different, we charge a flat fee for rotations at the top of categories for our advertisers, but we also use social to share those same listings - using Facebook and Instagram and especially exploiting stories as they’re so easy and transient… yet take up no feed space to gain attention from viewing public… the problem is, is getting to the tipping point when socials are working for you and website traffic is at a level that the advertiser, and you can see the value.

 

[fisicx]

Charging for top position only works if you have lots of traffic. Thousands of view per day.

But if you do get these sort of figures the rate you charge depends on the ROI for the client. If each click earns them £1 and they get 100 clicks per day then charging then £20/month is viable. But if nobody clicks then you might only get a one off fee of £9.99.

Comparison/review sites for a niche product or service are difficult to monetise. Mainly because it’s difficult to get the volume of traffic.

 

[Deleted member 335660]

No wonder people don’t trust these sites when they can pay to be at the top of the list.

 

[WaveJumper]

Comparison sites and reviews I don't trust any of them and the upsurge of the sites related to "helping you control" your credit score really get my goat.

 

[Chrish12]

No wonder people don’t trust these sites when they can pay to be at the top of the list.

Is not intended that the list is in order of how good they are like the ones tech radar do. They all offer somthing slightly different. The idea is to have the very top one as the weeks/ months 'featured' company.

 

[Chrish12]

Comparison sites and reviews I don't trust any of them and the upsurge of the sites related to "helping you control" your credit score really get my goat.

This will just be facts based and sortable based on the users preference. Just with the top one highlighted as the featured company.

 

[intheTRADE]

This will just be facts based and sortable based on the users preference. Just with the top one highlighted as the featured company.

That's where your site will lose credibility straight away. A list based on user preferences but the very top one being a company who has paid you to be there but is not necessarily the best option for the user/customer. Very misleading

You need to differentiate between whether you are a neutral review/comparison site or a promoter/opinionated of companies in your listings. You cant be both

Think Checkatrade for neutral user preference listings - Very credible company

Think Yell.com for promoted top three listings based on who have paid them the most - Awful, terrible reputation company

 

[fisicx]

This will just be facts based and sortable based on the users preference. Just with the top one highlighted as the featured company.

Then it's not sorted based on user preference.

What happens if 10 company all want to pay you to be at the top of the list?

 

[Phil Sproson Photography]

Then it's not sorted based on user preference.

What happens if 10 company all want to pay you to be at the top of the list?

What I run isn’t a comparison site, so similar but different, our top advertisers are on rotation and we limit per category how many can pay for the rotation of the top spots. Every page load will generally show a different business. That is the only way around that and only way to sell it to them too.

To be honest, this proposition sounds like it needs lots more thought, gaining advertisers in the first instance will be hard if these businesses already have game plans for selling their wares, a newcomer starting from scratch won’t be of interest.

 

[WebshopMechanic]

Whatever you decide to charge, it's all about the return on investment for the advertiser. What are they getting out of it?

You don't have a brand currently so it's difficult to charge anything much. I would suggest you build it based on affiliate deals and then maybe have a low-cost rate card (£150-£250) a month to be featured. You need to prove your worth.

Also, don't overlook the importance of building an email list. Your email list will be a hugely valuable asset and one that you can leverage for more income further down the line.

SEO is also key here. Do your research and understand what pains and problems your potential readers are looking to solve. What are they looking for in a service provider in the sector? If you can create useful content that solves this and ranks well, you'll get quicker results.

The success of your site will be based on the quality of your content. Try not to get too hung up on the monetisation side of things. Focus on building something of value and the money will follow.

Matt

 

[NickGrogan]

Is not intended that the list is in order of how good they are like the ones tech radar do. They all offer somthing slightly different. The idea is to have the very top one as the weeks/ months 'featured' company.

This is just a paid directory, not a comparison site then.

When was the last time you used a directory site to buy anything?

 

[Chrish12]

@NickGrogan @Phil Sproson Photography @intheTRADE

Sorry its hard to explain without giving too much away but it will be a facts based comparison that will have 5 or 6 catagories the user could filter by, and sort with. One of those might even be trust pilot score (I would need to research to make sure this is allowed)

The thoughts behind having one 'featured' site would a max of one that could be rotated weekly or monthly and appear clearly highlighted in a box even above the search tools.

I have already contacted several companies just to test the water who seem keen to sign up and I have established benifits for the consumer and why they would want to visit the site. Making people aware will be the hardest part but I have some marketing ideas and regular blog ideas with strong keywords for SEO etc.

I still have plenty to learn though! I'll definitely take the comments on board about focusing on building traffic before worrying too much about monitising the site, thanks.

 

[The Byre]

Whatever it is, it's probably been done. There are list sites for just about anything and everything in including markets that have just 50 or 60 companies competing in them.

So the answer is - you can't charge anything!

 

[fisicx]

Making people aware will be the hardest part but I have some marketing ideas and regular blog ideas with strong keywords for SEO etc.

That's not how it works anymore.

However....

Forget monetizing this. It's just not going to happen. I build wordpress comparison plugins for a living and nobody makes money from the listings. It's adverts on the site and affiliate links that earn the cash.

 

[Phil Sproson Photography]

Making some inferences here, from the original post, if influencers are already pushing the products on social media platforms then, the said products aren't actually that niche and there is a method in use that is working. If those relationships already exist for these companies and they're seeing sales, they won't want to be put together to be compared, ranked or whatever either